USTOA President, Bob Whitley, 1978-2010

"First of all, our condolence to Carol and the Whitley family.

We have lost a good friend and travel executive. They have lost a husband and father.

It would be easy for this to turn into a somber occasion, but how could any tribute to Bob be other than joyous? We will all have different ways of remembering Bob. Mine will always be of his infectious smile. Who could be somber and remember him running a USTOA meeting with that surgical halo screwed into his skull specially decorated to suit the occasion?

In watching the presentation you are about to see, I am reminded of how old many of us have grown. Yet, none could ever think of Bob as growing older. He was always young - whether riding an elephant in India or putting on a Roman centurion's suite of armor in Regensburg. Bob led the good life as happily as he led the very serious job of running the United States Tour Operators Association. He lived a very rich life to its fullest. Some of these riches came from playing poker with me.

For many at USTOA, he introduced us to a style of travel that, in our work-a-day lives, we never dreamed of. To me, selling tours of Europe, the life of the maharaja in India was simply beyond my imagination. To a tour operator selling the Caribbean or Hawaii, the mysteries of selling Tibet and China were opened up by Bob.

Over his years at USTOA, Bob had 18 different bosses. Who of us can even imagine having 18 bosses in 32 years, all of whom envied Bob - who many of believe had the best job in the world?

Bob saw the organization move from being a small group on the west coast to a group recognized around the world. He moved us from being threatened by a NJ waste disposal guy to holding the group together through the worst recession in our history. Bob was the glue that held USTOA together through our many crises.

My own greatest moment making up, just a bit, for all the money I lost to him over the years at the poker table was when he recently admitted that he had voted for the wrong guy in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Bob, an ardent Republican, and I, a loyal Democrat, had spent 30 years giving each other a hard time each election cycle – but always with respect and good humor.

His sense of humor many times caught me on the wrong foot - the worst occasion being when he had 7 or 8 presidents of major tour operators doing 2 weeks of seminars across the US. I was the wrap up guy at the end of the seminar. To end on a good note, I had 6 jokes built into my part of the presentation. On the last night, he had each of the presenters before me tell one of my jokes and to make matters worse, put all of my cue cards in a different order.

I hope all of you enjoy this reminder of Bob at his best.

Bob happily lived the life he wanted. And we should all be happy for that."